To Sir, with Love

For other uses, see To Sir, with Love (disambiguation).

To Sir, with Love
UK theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Clavell
Screenplay byJames Clavell
Based onTo Sir, With Love
1959 novel
by E. R. Braithwaite
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPaul Beeson, B.S.C.
Edited byPeter Thornton
Music byRon Grainer
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • 14 June 1967 (1967-06-14) (US)
  • 29 October 1967 (1967-10-29) (UK)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$625,000[1] or $600,000[2]
Box office$42,432,803[3] or $22 million[2]

To Sir, with Love is a 1967 British drama film that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. It stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall, Patricia Routledge and singer Lulu making her film debut.[4] James Clavell directed from his own screenplay, which was based on E. R. Braithwaite's 1959 autobiographical novel of the same name.

The film's title song "To Sir with Love", sung by Lulu, peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States for five weeks in the autumn of 1967 and ultimately was the best-selling single in the United States that year; meanwhile, Sidney Poitier was the first black actor to win a Golden Globe Award. The movie ranked number 27 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.[5]

The film premiered and became a hit one month before another film about troubled schools, Up the Down Staircase, appeared.

A made-for-television sequel, To Sir, with Love II, was released in 1996, with Poitier reprising his starring role.

  1. ^ "An author at home in Hollywood and Hong Kong". Dudar, Helen. Chicago Tribune. 12 April 1981: e1.
  2. ^ a b A Blue-Ribbon Packager of Movie Deals Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 20 April 1969: w1.
  3. ^ "To Sir, with Love, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  4. ^ "To Sir, with Love". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  5. ^ "50 Best High School Movies". Entertainment Weekly. 28 August 2015.